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September 02, 2007

Sohail Motahir Chowdhury wrote a brilliant article (in Bangla) titled above. I am translating the same for you:

"In today's world a military ruled country means a country remaining in the dark ages. I think even the chief of the army will agree to this. When the adviser of the care-taker government Barrister Mainul Hossain declared that this is a military backed government, then the army chief was the first one to explain that the army has no relation to this government. It proves that even the chief of army knows that a military backed government is something the world deplores. But I am sure with this statement the army chief did not try to belittle the army or questioned its powers. The army is a powerful force in its own field which is vital in the context of sovereignty of Bangladesh. But the efforts of some opportunist military higher ranks to grab the power using the army as a platform and establish a military rule is of course deplorable.

Bangladesh is fighting to bring back democracy. The country is passing through critical times to cleanse the electoral and democratic process. Nobody wants a military rule to distort these efforts. The army chief has reiterated that they do not want to come to power. This realization and wishful thinking of the Bangladesh army is laudable.

But there is really no need to belittle the freedom to oppose the military rule. Even the members of Bangladesh army can also support this thought of the general public. The students had demanded the withdrawal of the army camp from the campus of Dhaka University with this notion. But this demand and the protests do not mean that the students are at war with the military and they want destruction of the armed forces. Those who tries to give this explanation to the events that occurred recently are actually cooking up conspiracy theories for their own interest. They want to cash in with these disputes and divides.

To protest against the government does not mean conspiring against the country. Government and the state are two different things. Equally opposing military rule does not mean speaking evil against the army. The army is an integral and important part of a country's sovereignty. A military rule is detrimental to a country's development and prosperity."